“Sadness is what holds our bones in place.”
― Miriam Toews, All My Puny Sorrows
My great grandfather survived two world wars and eventually succumbed to stomach cancer in his early seventies, an ailment attributed to the heavy use of mustard gas inflicted on both soldiers and civilians during wartime. His funeral is the only memory my mother offers of him. After his death, my great grandmother cleaned, dressed, and presented his body on their kitchen table. Outside the window, his beloved dog howled and cried with grief. My mother often shares the tragic story of her grandfather’s dalmatian. The dissolution of the dog’s sanity and eventual euthanasia has become the embodiment of mourning for her. Although I wouldn’t be born for several decades, the consistent retelling of this story has created a fictional memory in my mind. I remember sitting beside my young mother in that kitchen, listening to his dalmatian whimper, watching our family grieve.
I was reminded of this deeply personal story from my own family after watching a pivotal scene in Amalie Atkins’ recent film trilogy The Diamond Eye Assembly (2018). The film is centred around a community of women living within an expansive rural prairie landscape. The murder of a matriarch sets in motion a storyline motivated by grief and heartache. Upon her death, the family prepares and adorns her body on a Formica kitchen table, the epicentre of the home. With the assistance of their grandmother, her twin daughters fashion her a new pair of shoes out of bread dough. The family then replaces her well-worn boots and rests flower halos on her chest. Her head is placed outside the window, ensuring that her spirit can make the journey to the afterlife.
Courtesy of the artist.
Ritual, care, and grief are the pillars of The Diamond Eye Assembly. Atkins unravels an intergenerational narrative loosely based on the histories, both lived and dreamed, of her Russian Mennonite heritage. Raised in southern Manitoba and currently residing in Saskatoon, Atkins’ artistic practice has been indebted to the sublime prairie landscape for over a decade. This series expands this devotion, creating a magical tale of matriarchal futures inspired by the depths of loss and mourning.
The Diamond Eye Assembly is rich in symbolism that reflects the Mennonite traditions of Atkins’ memory: long braided hair, hand-embroidered textiles, and personal moments in her familial language. Like many Canadians whose ancestral histories have been slowly dissolved, suppressed, or reimagined over generations, Atkins has woven a story that encompasses the beauty and sadness implicit in her heritage. Mennonites, belonging to the Anabaptist Christian church, separated themselves from the mainstream European religions of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. Despite having faced centuries of persecution and forced relocation, Mennonites maintained a commitment to pacifism. Tens of thousands of Russian and Ukrainian Mennonites immigrated to Canada in the late 19th century and during the world wars, building strong communities in southern Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
Atkins’ grandparents migrated to the Canadian prairies after their displacement following the Russian Revolution. Although the Mennonites’ reputation as hard workers granted them tolerance and religious freedom, their stance as conscientious objectors during wartime became threatening or burdensome to the ruling powers. Since the 15th century, Mennonites have been violently forced to relocate―constantly losing wealth, possessions, and beloved family members. The Diamond Eye Assembly is an exploration of the ancestral trauma bestowed upon the Mennonites, epitomizing Atkins’ aim to protect and preserve what remains of her family’s heritage through her practice. She honours the stories passed down from generations by meticulously recreating the textiles and garments garnered from old photographs, books, and her imagination. Her films are composites of hundreds of years of intergenerational tales combined with the future her family longed to have.
Courtesy of the artist.
Contained within The Diamond Eye Assembly is a magical world that weeps nostalgia, fantasy, and desire. The characters perform rituals that feel historical, even familiar, but are not accurate representations of any specific cultural tradition. Atkins has created a narrative that feels universally sentimental, expressing the generations of loss. The trilogy opens with a short montage. Women and girls in dresses, boots, and braids, encompassed by the expansive prairie landscape, are performing a symphony of everyday tasks—harvesting, preparing, and patrolling. The scene’s tension is accentuated by a traditional Slavic folk song, a singular female voice that aches and yearns. Although the cast is composed entirely of women in delicately embroidered aprons and ribboned braids, an imminent threat of violence looms.
Atkins’ experience as a woman is predicated on growing up in rural Manitoba and the realities that many prairie women faced—stifling patriarchal traditions and brutal living conditions. Domestic life is an integral part of Atkins’ aesthetic and extends into honouring the value and power of matriarchs. The relationships between the women in her films are complex and sturdy, showcasing the perseverance necessary to withstand such hardships.
Courtesy of the artist.
In the second scene of The Diamond Eye Assembly, titled “Aprons,” the exterior landscape moves to the interior, and quirky upbeat polka music changes the mood from sombre to whimsical. The domestic scene is centred on a woman shelling peas at the kitchen table. Another elderly woman enters the frame and begins to methodically dress herself in aprons, one on top of the other. After the sisters share a short conversation in German, the pea-sheller assists in the application of a dozen more aprons. The aprons are beautifully homemade and diverse in their colours, patterns, and styles—utilizing every scrap of spare fabric and ribbon. Although sweet and delicate in their form, the aprons act as armour and prepare her for the world outside. Eventually, the elderly woman is adequately equipped and ventures out into the prairie landscape to pick wheat.
The women in “Aprons” are Atkins’ aunts. The more elderly of the two is her Aunt Agatha Bock, the matriarch of Atkins’ family. In a recent conversation with Atkins, she explained to me that the apron ritual showcases a subtle tension between the two women and the performativity of domestic life. Their tender love for each other is overshadowed by the rigorous duties imparted on women. The endless acts of care and sacrifice in an attempt to preserve and sustain the family has made women equally invaluable and expendable to the patriarchal powers that dominate.
Courtesy of the artist.
Aprons are incredibly important throughout The Diamond Eye Assembly, as are a number of domestic tools: scissors, spades, and ribbons. As the trilogy unfolds, these tools take on magical qualities that enable the women’s survival. Following the loss of their mother, murdered by a witch, the twin girls become physically inseparable. Their braids and dresses bind them together. It is not until they’re emboldened by revenge that the stifling grief subsides and they are able to be individuals again.
The twins strike out across the prairies to hunt the witch that killed their mother. Much like the way trauma and grief follow us throughout our lives, the witches linger in the shadows, listening intently, and searching for weaknesses in the community. Along the way, the twins gather aprons that are nestled in trees and find a pair of magical shears. The journey culminates with the twins cooking a supernatural meal of intricately woven bread and delicate cakes made out of soil. The treats lure the gluttonous witch who boldly devours every bite. The domestic rituals ingrained in the young women have provided them with the skills to survive.
Courtesy of the artist.
Much of this body of work is about grief and how it changes us. The melancholy of loss affects us all differently and the rituals associated with mourning do not always provide the closure necessary to find solace. Due to countless tragedies and kilometres, I never knew my grandparents. I will never know how my great grandmothers prayed nor will I experience the unique ways my grandmothers showed love for their families. But familial memories persist, as does love. The Diamond Eye Assembly is a bittersweet tale that universally transcribes what it feels like to grieve. Whether we are mourning the loss of a family we will never know, a cherished loved one, or our own autonomy, it takes courage to survive. The trilogy ends as it begins, with a mother and daughter performing the minute daily tasks that will develop into impenetrable bonds and traditions.
This article is published in issue 37.3 of BlackFlash magazine. Get this issue
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